Author: Emma Loggins
Date: 2008-08-08

Interview:
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Benito Martinez who plays the role of councilman, David Aceveda on FX Network’s award-winning drama, The Shield.

Now that the show is entering it's final season, how do you think The Shield has changed the nature of the crime drama?

B. Martinez: The nature of the crime drama? I don't know if it will have changed it greatly, to be honest. I think that the biggest effect will be, and it's still lasting today, is being able to produce quality work on extended cable. We kind of kicked open those doors and said that you can have quality drama on other than HBO or network. FX has continued along those lines with wonderful dramas and now the most recent one is Damages and Sons of Anarchy starting up in the fall. The Closer and Saving Grace, and the names escape me right now, but a whole slew of just wonderful shows. Is it AMC or is it A&E that just has Mad Men, you have these wonderful shows that would not be picked up on network. They just wouldn't. I think that's where our legacy will be made, that we were able to mine this new territory successfully and really open up a quality vein in the industry.

Your character and as an actor, are you pretty satisfied, I know you can't tell us too much, are you pretty satisfied with the conclusion for it?

B. Martinez: Yes, every time I talk about The Shield I kind of talk about it from three perspectives, as if I'm three people, because I'm a fan of the show. I'm in love with all the other characters and their journeys and their work. But then as an actor, I love getting this kind of rich material and having to do it. As my character, did my journey finish? On all of those levels, I have to tell you that Season 7 satisfies me completely. It's just one of those wow moments and I just hope that everybody enjoys it as much as we enjoyed putting it together, and how proud we are with what they're waiting to see.

Was there anything you were hoping to see David accomplish before the end of the series?

B. Martinez: Oh, that's a good one. Wow, what I wish the audience could see more of was David out there serving the community a bit more in his political arena and how he was able to effect change that way. But, you know, it pales in comparison to what they were able to do. I lack the imagination that the writers have. I really have to say I am very satisfied and complete in the journey that David was.

Over the season, do you find that you had fun moments and difficult moments, and if so, what have been the most fun and difficult to record?

B. Martinez: The most difficult to record, you know I had a journey where I suffered an attack and a rape sequence and then you go through the psychological drama. What is fascinating to me is that there is a sense of guilt that that happened that I carried as an actor, and a sense of protection because you always knew that somebody might find out kind of quality that spilled over into every day life. People would see me, "Oh, wow I love that show. You're that captain." You kind of go, "Oh good, they didn't remember it." And then they go, "Oh, and you got raped!" Okay, so now you know too. You know that they know because they're the audience, and they've been watching all along and stuff like that, but it was very, very difficult, and it's one of those things that you know it furthered the journey of the character and the storyline and everything else. It wasn't gratuitous. It made sense as far as what that world that we created was. But it was hugely, incredibly difficult, and then telling my wife, that scene was incredibly difficult, and then dealing with the prostitute and kicking ... out of my life and putting the gun in her mouth, and that whole different thing. A lot of psychological stuff happened, and you had to journey through this mine field and separate yourself as the actor and the character, but you know you've really got to go there. So those things were incredibly difficult.

All in all the fun things that I take with me, the most memorable, it felt like the best theater troupe that you'd ever seen. We kind of traveled along this road, we may not have left from town to town, but we went all over this town, the best neighborhoods to the worst—mostly the worst and back again to our lovely barn. We were supportive of each other. We'd stand in the wings and watch the others shine when it was their moment. We knew when to be the spear-carrier and when to take our big soliloquy center stage. It was fantastic in that regard. I look around, and I go, that I'll miss. That was the most pleasurable part of it.
Lastly, not only the wonderful actors I worked with, but the incredible directors and writers that we had a chance to dance with along the way. They always came with enthusiasm and high expectations. You can't beat that. It wasn't just a regular job. It was something special. We knew it, and they knew it, and it always felt that way.